Understanding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Animal Control
Animal control programs are an essential part of any community, yet often this work goes unnoticed. A great way to showcase your team’s efforts is through reporting – an essential part of any department.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are stats that are used to measure the effectiveness of a program. In animal control, KPIs are used to measure the performance of an agency, its officers, and even processes when it comes to promoting public safety and animal welfare in the community, as well as preventing issues related to stray or dangerous animals.
Apart from demonstrating effectiveness, KPIs are also a good way to show the value of animal control in your community by providing visibility on your work to leadership outside of your department – key people who often are decision makers when it comes to allocating funds and resources. KPIs can also provide visibility on long-term trends your community is facing, which can be helpful in figuring out and implementing strategies for any ongoing problems.
Top KPIs for Measuring Performance in Animal Control
Which key performance indicators your agency uses to measure effectiveness will depend in part on the duties and responsibilities of your department. For example, if your organization only handles animal welfare and cruelty cases, KPIs related to animal adoptions or shelter-based stats won’t apply to you. Some of the top KPIs for measuring effectiveness of animal control organizations include:
New cases each month
New cases by violation type (animal welfare/animal cruelty, bite cases, etc.)
Cases resolved or closed each month
Caseload by officer
Initial response time
Inspections scheduled
Notices sent
Time elapsed between case open and resolution
Number of proactive vs reactive cases logged
To show progress on initiatives – or perhaps to demonstrate a need for additional resources – it can also be helpful to show numbers on a year-over-year or month-over-month basis. These can also be helpful in identifying trends within the community on a given issue. For example, an increase in calls about stray cats in a particular area might indicate a new feral cat colony that needs addressing.
The Value of Animal Control KPIs to Local Government Leadership
Data has the ability to tell a story. When organized and analyzed, the use of key performance indicators in a report can be valuable at all levels of local government, including for:
Supervisors: Access to caseload by officer helps supervisors balance workload across their personnel. Real-time access to performance metrics help supervisors coach their team based on current and relevant problems the officers are facing.
Department Heads: Access to past and current work volumes help Department Heads determine future staffing needs and department budgets. Reports on overall department performance help Department Heads communicate the value their team is adding to senior management with data-oriented observations.
City Managers, Town Administrators and other Appointed Officials: KPIs such as violation/complaint type, case volume and case outcomes can help appointed officials understand any ongoing issues related to animal control in your community and subsequently implement strategies to address those problems that might extend outside the department’s ability to handle.
Elected Officials: Councilmembers and other elected officials are concerned with serving their constituents. Supplying them with data by council district can help them better understand any animal control issues in their respective districts and demonstrate that your team is hard at work on it.
Leveraging Technology to Make KPIs Work for You
The specific KPIs relevant to animal control can vary depending on the organization's goals, scope of services, and the types of animals they handle. These indicators help measure the success of animal control programs and guide efforts to improve the welfare of animals and protect public safety.
Using key performance indicators to help track performance in animal control starts with collecting data over the long-term to understand trends and set your baseline. If your community is currently utilizing paper files, you know how difficult it can be to hand-pull stats and put them together in a report for leadership.
Save time and make reporting much easier by utilizing animal control software like Comcate. With our Animal Control Manager, as you create and document cases, the software naturally aggregates all the important stats you need – which makes it easy to create lists, graphs, charts and other types of reports instantly with just the click of a button. No more manually counting and double checking.
Reporting is a great way to start better demonstrating the value of animal control to your community’s leadership – and great reporting starts with a software solution. Interested in learning more about the benefits of animal control software? Contact us today!
Schedule a Meeting with Comcate Today!
Learn how Comcate can help make government delivery simple, and offer a modern digital experience to help you increase transparency, efficiency, and performance across your departments. If you have any questions about implementing our software, please fill out the form below or call us directly at (415) 632-1248.
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